Being in th car business????

Topic: Being in th car business???? (Read 1113 times) previous topic - next topic

Being in th car business????

May 28, 2012, 06:05:25 PM

Well Friday we closed early and i hung around as usual. Late in the day a customer came in with an older women. I recognized the young fellow as a customer that we rebuilt his Rear axle. It was a Camaro rear and we installed a set of 3.90 gears and completely rebuilt the unit. We did not take it out of the car and it had no accessories on it. Braked lines calipers or rotors ETC. The customer removed it from his car and gave the axle to me to bench build it. The customer removed it. I personally rebuilt and set up the unit on the bench. The rear was completely rebuilt soup to nuts. It came out perfect to say the least. With that the the older women introduced herself as the mother and said we messed up the rebuild. She said she had a mechanic friend check it and we messed it up. They had the car with them and said the wheel bearings were shot and the carrier bearings as well. Now i installed all new ones as i always do. But anything can go wrong. With that i said let me check it out. So i DID!!!

What do you know the first wheel i pulled found the defect. The caliper had only one BOLT in it and it was dragging on the inside of the rim. I pointed this out to the customer and she said IMPOSSIBLE because YOU MISTER RENZO installed the calipers and that means you messed up. Well i turned to her son and said TELL YOUR MOTHER WHO INSTALLED THE CALIPERS. He humbly said that he did along with his father. Now things can happen to anyone including us in the shop that is a fact. But coming to the shop with a vengeance and accusing us is not right. Below is the wheel in question. The MOM apologized to me and said she would use us as her mechanic from now on. Other than her mechanic that BAD MOUTHED US. Just thought you would get a kick out of this story. And on a long weekend to BOOT. I installed a bolt checked out the rest of the bolts including all caliper mounting hardware and so on and so forth and replaced the wheel and all is good in CAMARO LAND. Went home and fired up the GRILL all Weekend. Thanks for listening!!

A nice new bolt fixed his camaro

Being in th car business????

Reply #1 – May 28, 2012, 06:28:37 PM

All in a days work!

Being in th car business????

Reply #2 – May 28, 2012, 07:13:48 PM

Very true very true.

Being in th car business????

Reply #3 – May 28, 2012, 08:35:14 PM

Sounds like things worked out, minus the downtime and the chewed-on wheel.

Could've been much worse, as anyone who's traded vehicle repair for a paystub will know.

Being in th car business????

Reply #4 – May 28, 2012, 08:40:44 PM

At least the lady understood, some people even though you tell them it's not your fault and help them fix it, still keep on pestering and insisting you did something wrong.

Being in th car business????

Reply #5 – May 28, 2012, 09:37:49 PM

Yes it worked out OK and everyone was happy. It cost me one metric bolt app 1/2 hour of my time and i got a new and happy customer out of the deal. Bottom line it was a good day all around. Thanks

Only one problem !!!! The mother has a SAAB!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! OUCH!!!!

Being in th car business????

Reply #6 – May 28, 2012, 11:08:49 PM

This is why we try not to throw each other under the bus. It makes us look bad.

Being in th car business????

Reply #7 – May 29, 2012, 06:12:21 AM

Quote from: TheFoeYouKnow;391007

This is why we try not to throw each other under the bus. It makes us look bad.

GOOD POINT. But in the 46 years i have been doing this people in our business do it from time to time. Mostly the know it all's or want to be mechanics. But today me and my other business owners share info on a regular basis. The Dodge dealer in town calls us and we call them on issues as well as the Ford and the GM dealers. We actually communicate with each other and we know each other more personally today. Bashing normally comes from the fly by night guys in general. Example this site has a wealth of info and we print it daily to help each other. And none of us get a dime for it. That is something to be said about dedication and the will to help others. Think about it !!Thanks

Being in th car business????

Reply #8 – May 29, 2012, 10:45:41 AM

Quote from: TOM Renzo;390986

What do you know the first wheel i pulled found the defect. The caliper had only one BOLT in it and it was dragging on the inside of the rim.

LOLz

That happened to me once. Think it was my old black '86. I didn't know it but one of the slider pins snapped and let the pad slip out of one side. The car just bound up something fierce on that side (driver's front) and then, back to normal. I'd had a brake appointment, coincidentally, the next day but since I was having more immediate issues, I decided to try and drive the car to the shop a day early. Got about halfway there, and in the middle of a small town with lots of traffic lights and not-so-nice police, it happened: the pad flew out and I lost all brakes. Thankfully, that was one of the few cars I'd owned that had working parking brakes, so I used those for a few blocks until I could turn the car into a lot and call a tow truck. The rim had a groove in it, just like Tom's photos. It was more of an inconvenience than anything, considering the slow speeds I was traveling, but still...could have been a lot worse!

Glad to hear this situation worked out alright and that nobody got injured.

Being in th car business????

Reply #9 – May 29, 2012, 11:26:48 AM

Tom, glad to hear this one had a happy ending, but surely you know that by working on a customer's vehicle, no matter what job, you automatically provide a lifetime warranty on the entire vehicle? Because everything that ever goes wrong with that vehicle again is automatically your fault, right? If you change his oil it's your fault his left rear tire is losing air. If you replace his blower motor it's your fault his brake light has burned out. If you do his front brakes it's your fault his u-joints are shot. And so on, sic ad nauseum...

Being in th car business????

Reply #10 – May 29, 2012, 08:13:07 PM

Thunder that is what makes our business so exciting. Well said and true,.

Being in th car business????

Reply #11 – May 29, 2012, 08:18:47 PM

Eric i have seen a couple of sheared pins in some cars lately. You just hit on something that was actually bothering me and i was going to do a post on it. Seems like either the pins freeze in the bore or in rare occasions they snap. As the matter of fact the dealers are stocking not only pins but also the caliper mounts as well. They are also carrying rebuild kits as well for the calipers. Seems like they know something is up with this. I could not believe the amount of brake hardware the dealers are stocking. You read my mind Brother. I was going to post that exact problem Thanks.

Being in th car business????

Reply #12 – June 11, 2012, 10:34:13 PM

we have had mr and mrs "ever since ya'' in our shop before too. " i assure you Mr ever since, when we replaced your rear brakes we did not mess up your washer pump"